The Ohio state government on Tuesday approved a $150 million annual bailout for FirstEnergy Solutions’ two nuclear power plants in the state.
The Ohio House of Representatives voted 51-38 to approve its bill following recent modifications by the state Senate. Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R) then quickly signed the measure into law.
The bill translates to an $0.85 monthly increase in the electric bill for each Ohio residential utility customer, along with higher spikes for business and industrial ratepayers. However, it also dramatically cuts fees going to energy conservation and renewable energy programs, according to the Columbus Dispatch.
The $150 million annual boost for the nuclear power sites will last from 2021 to 2027. Another $20 million would be directed each year to six solar projects, Cleveland.com reported.
While all Ohio residents will pay the monthly rate hike that goes to FirstEnergy Solutions, the Akron-based corporation supplies 15 percent of the state’s electricity, according to the newspaper.
FirstEnergy Solutions did not respond to media requests for comment on Tuesday.
“This is something that needed to be done, and the legislature rose up and took care of business,” House Speaker Larry Householder (R) told the Dispatch. Trish Demeter, chief of staff for the Ohio Environmental Council, told the newspaper: “House Bill 6 is still a very bad bill that puts Ohio on the wrong track,”
Meanwhile, the WFMJ television station reported that the natural gas industry is considering trying to overturn the law next year with a statewide referendum.
FirstEnergy Solutions and several corporate siblings filed for federal bankruptcy protection on March 31, 2018 — days after the company announced that four power reactors in Ohio and Pennsylvania would be shut down because they cannot economically compete with power generated by natural gas. The company had planned to close the Davis-Besse Nuclear Power Station in Oak Harbor, Ohio, by May 2020, and the Perry Nuclear Power Plant in Perry, Ohio, by May 2021.
